1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to materials and compounds using micronized or pulverized rubber powder as a component to enhance the physical properties or reduce cost of finished products such as tubes or flat strips in highway delineators, road markers, line markers, and Port-A-John vent tubes.
2. Description of Related Art
There are a number of highway delineator patents which disclose form, fit, and function inventions. These patents (listed below) disclose mixtures of specific thermosetting/thermoplastic combinations such as HYTREL®, a line of thermoplastic polyester elastomers offered by DuPont® which provide the flexibility of rubbers, the strength of plastics, and the process ability of thermoplastics. One patent is calling for the incorporation of DuPont® Kevlar® aramid fiber into the matrix. None of the below listed patents, regardless of the shape and mix of materials involved; disclose micronized rubber powder incorporated into the material mix.
There have been a number of roadway or highway guide or marking posts which are constructed either of a flexible material or are spring biased based in order to be self erecting in the event the delineator or marking post is accidentally hit and bent by a moving vehicle which leaves the roadway. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,084,914, 4,092,081, 4,106,879 and 4,123,183 disclose various forms of self-erecting roadway delineator or marking posts.
In the design of such a marking post, it is highly desirable for the post to be constructed in a manner to be able to withstand many dozens of impacts from the bumpers of high speed vehicles without damaging or destroying the post and without pulling the post out of the ground.
The prior art patents are thus seen to propose mechanical solutions in form, fit and function. The present invention enhances the rebounding performance of a delineator via a blended compound of polymeric materials. The high cost of high performance polymers proposed in the prior art is challenged in the present invention because the present invention is blended using economical ingredients and also provides a sustainable environmental/carbon foot print reduction benefit. The series of compounds proposed, offer an economical solution while maintaining a controllable, graded level of performance ability to rebound from impact, ranging from high to low.